Hey look, I am entirely sympathetic to the charge that the media gets nudged by liberal interest groups and the like, including groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State. I’m also open to the suggestion that Tom Delay is being railroaded by his enemies, though I’m not convinced either way (the Post’s assault has too many holes). But can we agree that Tom Delay is not a stand-in for Terri Schiavo? This is from today’s New York Times:

“One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America,” Mr. DeLay told a conference organized by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. A recording of the event was provided by the advocacy organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“This is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others,” Mr. DeLay said.
Mr. DeLay complained that “the other side” had figured out how “to defeat the conservative movement,” by waging personal attacks, linking with liberal organizations and persuading the national news media to report the story. He charged that “the whole syndicate” was “a huge nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in.”

Me: Again, as I’ve been reading Byron York’s excellent new book I think it’s entirely plausible that there’s a whole “syndicate” determined to undermine conservatism, Republicans et al.

But I think it’s at minimum tacky and ill-conceived to suggest that God put Terri Schiavo into her condition to help highlight the unfairness of attacks against Tom Delay or conservatism in general. Nor is it against God’s plan to criticize Tom Delay. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that Schiavo’s plight is symbolic of any number of things, but if Delay’s ethics problems are real he shouldn’t hide behind Schiavo and if they’re fictitious, he shouldn’t hide behind Schiavo.